Chapter 18: Chapter 18
Isabella's pov;
When I entered the house, Mr Martinez covered my eyes using his palm.
"What are you doing?"
"I prepared a surprise for you."
"Surprise? Why?"
"Do I need a reason to give you surprises?"
"Argh! Where's it? Is it in the hall?"
"No, it's on the third floor."
I tried to remove his hands while asking"Then, why are you closing my eyes now?"
"Because it's a surprise."
"If I trip on the stairs, I'm going to…"
"What will you do?"
"I can't think of any right now but I'll do something."
While we're talking, my feet touched the beginning of the staircase.
"Hold on to me." Mr Martinez said.
I held his hand and walked in the front but tripped and fell on his chest. He held me in his arms and looked at me. I looked away and said, "Close my eyes in front of the door. Let's walk now."
Suddenly, he lifted me like a princess carry and said, "You won't trip anymore in this way."
"Did you forget that my eyes aren't covered?"
"Close it on your own for me."
"Okay."
I closed my eyes and wrapped my hands around his neck while he carried me to the third floor.
"Um, what about big brother and others? What if they see us like this?"
"I sent them earlier today."
"What about Chuck?"
"Chuck left for his hometown."
I opened my eyes and looked at him with a stunned expression asking, "Is it going to be only you and me in the house tonight?"
He nodded and avoided looking at my eyes since he was focused in the front.
"Don't tell me that you're planning to have a*x with me."
He dropped me in the middle of the stairs after hearing it from me.
He helped me to stand and apologised. When he tried to pick me up again, I said, "It's fine. I'll walk. What if you put me down again? I don't know why but I'm getting hit continuously by something today." And started climbing the stairs.
When we came to the third floor, I said, "You can cover my eyes now."
He smiled and covered my eyes and made me walk in front of him.
He whispered, "I'm opening it right now. We're going into the room…"
"Can I open my eyes now?"
"Not now."
After some steps, he took his hands off and said, "Go on and open your eyes."
I opened my eyes and looked around. I was surprised by the appearance of the room. It looked like a professional gamer's room. I didn't know Mr Martinez had interest in games since I never saw him playing games. The room was filled with gaming equipment and the screens were larger and beautiful. I saw PlayStation 5 which is the costliest among the PlayStation.
"PlayStation 5?"
"Yup! They said it loads in lightning fast with high speed with 500 gb space where we can save up to 10 to 15 games."
I'm not interested in games but I heard about it through Carlos since he's a game addict. He always talks about the games, consoles, and PlayStation in the detention room.
"Do you like the room?"
"Yeah, it's breathtaking."
"I know you'll like it." He held my hand and made me sit in front of the screen and asked, "You can tell me if I missed something to buy."
I got confused with his words and asked, "How do I know that? I don't even know how to play games on my phone." And laughed.
"You don't know how to play games?"
I shook my head and said, "Mr Martinez, I started working part-time jobs during my middle school. Do you think I had time for playing games?"
He took the seat beside me and said, "Then everything is wasted. What should I do now?"
"Don't you play?"
He shook his head and said, "I bought it for you. Like you, I didn't have time for playing games since I was studying hard to survive on my own. We both don't know how to play games. I think I should just return it back."
"Since we both don't know how to play this, why don't we give it a try?" I placed the console in his hand and asked, "Don't you want to give it a try?"
"Are you sure?"
I nodded and turned on the screen and asked, "What do you want to play first?"
"What's there?"
"Fortnite, God of War, Destiny 2, FIFA 21, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto,... Mr Martinez, it sounds like a movie name."
"I don't know any of the names you said."
"I don't even know. Um, why don't we try basketball?"
He sat on the chair and said, "There's a basketball game listed in the list?"
"Yeah, it's something under the nba. Want to play?"
"No, you'll win."
I laughed and said, "I haven't played like this so I don't think I'll win. Don't worry."
He stood and said, "Okay. Let's try that."
When the game started, I started moving the console like I'm throwing the balls. Not one fell into the basket.
When I looked at Mr Martinez, he scored five already.
"How did you do that?"
He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I just moved just like that. How many did you score?"
He took a look at my score and laughed at me.
"I said it's different in the game. If we're playing on the ground, I would have scored 30 points by now."
He laughed and said, "Okay. We're running out of time. Continue playing." and pushed me away to continue the game.
I continued playing the game.
In the end, when the timer went off, I scored 10 points. It's so tough. When i looked at Mr Martinez's score, 70 out of 100??? Are you kidding me? I hit him on his shoulder and said, "Did you lie to me that you didn't know how to play? How can you score 70 when I get 30?"
"I really didn't know how to play."
"Did my console get broken or what?" I checked the console by turning it upside down.
"It was new. How can it be broken?"
"Then how did you score high?"
He gave a flick on my forehead and said, "Maybe it was my lucky day."
I rubbed my forehead and asked, "Ouch! Did you just give a flick?"
He came over to me and rubbed my forehead and said, "Sorry, I got excited while playing the game."
I took his hands off and said, "I-It's fine. What do you want to play next?"
"What about fifa21?"
"I don't know how to."
"Even though I don't know basketball, didn't I play with you? This is my turn, so let's play FIFA 21."
The game looked like soccer. When the timer started, I didn't know how to play with so many players on my side. When I looked at Mr Martinez, he was playing it so well. His players were all moving on his side. Why aren't my players moving? I can only move one player.
"How are you doing it? I can only make one player move. How can I score with only one player?"
He showed me how to shift the players to play the game.
"Do you really don't know how to play?"
He patted my head and said, "Why do I have to lie to you? I'm playing it for the first time like you."
"Let's see how much you'll score in this game." And started playing how Mr Martinez said.
I couldn't score like Mr Martinez but I got a decent score. He scored a goal every time when he's on my side since most of my players are on standby because of me.
After halftime, I began scoring a lot more than before.
"Don't give in. I don't want to win this way. Even if I lose, I want to lose with my effort."
We continued playing soccer, when the game ended, I scored 10 and he's 30.
He patted and said, "That's a good score.
"Okay, I'll head downstairs."
"Wait, why are you leaving?"
"I'm feeling hungry. I'm going to eat."
"Let's try other games too."
When I tried to leave, he said, "Two games?"
"Two games."
We started trying out games one by one and forgot the count.
Mr Martinez selected a Ratchet and clank game, it's a one player mode but we two played side by side.
I said, "I don't know how to play this." And whined.
He walked to me and stood behind me and held my hand and directed me to move the Console.
"What are you doing?"
"Teaching you."
"Is this how you teach others too?"
He placed his chin on my shoulder and said, "Why do I have to teach others? I'm not going to play with them though."
"You're getting bolder day by day, Mr Martinez."
He turned me towards him and asked, "What did you just say?"
"T-The game started."
He took his console and started playing the game along with me.
"Why is your suit different from mine?"
"It's imperial armour."
"How did you get that? I didn't see it in the vault."
"I bought it using money."
"Show off."
"Do you want to buy cool outfits?"
"Yes, I want scavenger armour."
"Okay."
He used the money again and bought me a scavenger armour for me.
"You just sounded like a sugar daddy." And made a smirk.
"Stop saying nonsense and continue playing the game."
I smiled at him and continued.
After a while, we finished the game.
"I like this game. Up for a second round?"
"No, I'm tired. I'm feeling hungry already."
"Last one please?"
"This is the last one. And, I will leave after this."
He gave a thumbs up and we started another round.
As the game was getting interesting, we forgot the number of rounds we played and continued playing till the clock strikes 3 which was accidentally noticed by me.
I shook Mr Martinez and said, "It's 3."
"What? Did we play that long?"
I nodded and said, "I'm going to bed. I have to go to college."
"I have a meeting tomorrow too."
We both ran to our rooms.
When I woke up from the sleep, I took my phone to turn off the alarm. My phone wasn't ringing.
When I checked the time, it's 11 am in the morning. Sh*t! I had morning classes today. Did I just sleep through my classes? I think it's my day off which i took on my own.
I got showered and came downstairs.
Mr Martinez was drinking coffee while looking into his phone.
I sat beside him and asked, "Why are you still here? Aren't you leaving for the office?"
"I missed the morning flight since I slept."
"Wasn't the meeting in your office?"
He shook his head and put his head on my shoulder and said, "It's in LA."
I laughed and said, "Now I know why parents are restricting their children from playing video games."
He said, "Yeah, I should have bought something else for you."
"Can I ask why the idea of video games popped up in your mind while buying a gift for me?"
"It was suggested by the shop owner."
I laughed at his answer and he joined me too.
While we're laughing because of our mistakes, Big brother walked into the house. Mr Martinez sat straight after seeing Big brother.
Big brother asked Mr Martinez, "I heard that you missed the flight."
"I slept through."
"It's fine. I rescheduled the meeting." Big brother turned to me and asked, "And, why are you still here? Don't you have morning classes today?"
"I slept through. It's all because of him. I said to stop but he didn't and forced me along with him. I said two rounds is enough but he forced me more. As it was getting interesting, we forgot the number of rounds. We did it till 3 so we went to sleep late and woke up late." And leaned back on the couch.
Big brother gave a weird look on his face, when i looked at Mr Martinez, he said, "That's not how you explain it to others."
Big brother said, "Mr Martinez, can I have a talk with you?"
Big brother took Mr Martinez away for sometime and came back.
Mr Martinez said, "Say that we didn't do it last night."
Was he asking me to lie about playing games? Why is Mr Martinez hiding it? What's there to lie about? It's just a game, right?
"Why do you want me to lie to him?"
Big brother sat beside me and held my hand and asked, "I'm sorry for letting you stay here. It's not right. Let's go to my place. You can stay there and study from there."
"W-What are you talking about?"
"I'm sorry for what Mr Martinez did to you".
"What did he do to me?"
Big brother said to Mr Martinez, "Look how innocent she is. She didn't even know that she had s*x with you. How can you do it to her?"
I asked Big brother, "What did you just say?"
"You two had a*x last night, right?"
"WHAT!? No, we didn't. Who told you that we had… we had s*x last night?"
"You. You just said he did it with you rounds after rounds and didn't let you go to sleep. What does that mean?"
"Argh! You got everything wrong, big brother. I talked about the game we played last night."
Big brother asked Mr Martinez, "Did you role play with her? She's just a child even though she's a stub."
"Role play? Big brother, come with me." And took him to the third floor and opened the game room and showed it to him and continued, "I was talking about this game. We played till 3."
"My mistake. I'm sorry for misunderstanding like that."
When we came downstairs, Mr Martinez asked, "Do you understand that I wasn't lying about playing video games?"
He gave a nod and asked, "When did you buy it? How come I didn't know about this?"
"Because it was a surprise for Bella."
"Okay. But don't play it during the weekdays. Because you would have known the consequences already by now by playing it on the weekdays."
We two nodded our heads in unison.
"And, sorry for misunderstanding."
"No, don't be. It's my mistake to say it in that way. I should have told you in detail."
Big brother ruffled my hair and said, "If you feel uncomfortable with him, don't hesitate to stay at my house. We'll be happy if you come."
"Okay."
He let out a sigh and said, "Okay. I'm leaving."
I asked him, "Why are you leaving early?"
"Since you two slept, take this day as a holiday and rest." And left.
Mr Martinez jumped on me and wrapped his hands around me like a hug pillow.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm so happy that I get to spend a day with you."
"We've been living in the same house for a long period of time. So that means I'm beside you everyday."
"But today's different."
"And, why is that?"
"Because we're going out."
"No, didn't you hear what big brother said. He told us to take a rest."
I removed his hands and tried to leave.
"Do you feel sleepy?"
"No."
"Then, why are you going to sleep?"
"Sleep comes when we close our eyes."
I entered my room and lay on the bed, covered the blanket up to my neck and closed my eyes.
"Did you fall asleep?"
I flinched when I heard Mr Martinez's voice. When I opened my eyes, he was lying beside me.
I sat straight and asked him, "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep in my room so I came to sleep with you."
I let out a sigh and went under the covers. He took the blankets and covered him too.
He said, "I couldn't sleep."
"Please be silent."
"Okay."
After a while, I couldn't sleep but it would be an embarrassment if I stood up. What should I do now?"
I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was closing his eyes. Did he go to sleep?
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and said, "Shall we go out? You couldn't sleep too, right?"
"Even if we go out now, where are you trying to take me?"
"You're coming?" He asked with excitement.
"You know i will give up in the end and am going to come with you then why are you getting excited?"
"Everytime you accept to come with me, it feels new to me."
He moved closer and hugged me while we're lying on the bed.
"Okay. Let's get up."
"Let's lie like this for sometime." And closed his eyes.
Mr Martinez cuddled me like a pillow and was taking a nap. How could I be steady while he's hugging me?
Suddenly, he woke up and kissed my cheeks and got up from the bed, "Come on, let's get changed and leave." And left the room to change his clothes.
I got shy after he kissed my cheeks like a newlywed waking up from a sleep together.
I got up from the bed and took an outfit and changed into it.
When I came out, he was wearing a shirt which made his muscular arm more visible. How could he be handsome in all the outfits he's wearing? Wasn't it a crime?
He walked closer to me and softly pinched my cheeks and said, "You look cute."
"Thank you. You look handsome too."
"Do I? Thank you."
He held my hand and started walking in the corridor. I didn't know when it started but he was holding my hands recently whenever he walked beside me.
We got in his car.
"Do you want to drive?"
"Please, don't."
He laughed and started the car.
"Where are we going?"
"Another surprise."
"To dinner."
He shook his head.
"To the beach?"
He shook his head and said, "Don't pull out words from my mouth."
"I knew it. We're going to the beach, right?"
"Strike off the beach from the list."
"Then, where are we going?"
"You will know when we get there."
After a while, we stood in front of a movie theatre. Mr Martinez wrapped his hand over my shoulder and said, "Let's get in."
As we entered the movie theatre, he took me straight to the movie.
"Aren't you buying the tickets?"
"I booked it online."
"When?"
"While I was getting ready."
"Really."
"Yup! Let's go watch the movie first."
After we got seated, I asked him, "What is the genre?"
"Sci-fi."
"I knew you would do something like this. You knew I don't watch sci-fi then why did you bring me here?"
He laughed and said, "It's not sci-fi. I lied. I wanted to see how your reaction would be."
"Then what is the genre?"
"Horror."
"Are you teasing me again?"
"No…"
While we're speaking, the movie started. It's a horror film like Mr Martinez said.
I whispered, "Why did you bring me to a horror film?"
"I don't watch horror movies either, but I want to try it out with you."
"Why?"
He turned and looked at me and said, "I want to try new things with you. I like you and that doesn't mean there's only sex all we can do together. I want to try different things with you. I want to do things which i didn't do during my teenage life. I want to feel…"
Before he finished, I planted a kiss on his lips and leaned back on the seat to watch the movie.
He smiled at me and held my hands and started watching the movie.
After the movie ended, we went back to the house.
"Why did you kiss me?"
"I thought you wouldn't ask me."
"I was curious to know the reason."
"There's not a reason behind the kiss. While you were talking, seeing you under those lights, talking like a kid wanting to try things, it made me kiss you. I liked the face you made while you were excited."
"What face is that?"
"It's a secret." And smiled at him.
"Do you like the movie?"
"To make a review, I should have at least seen the movie but someone was getting scared often and closed my eyes instead of them and didn't let me see the movie. Are you scared of ghosts, Mr Martinez?"
"I'm not scared of ghosts. I have a fear of darkness."
"Yeah, I knew it. You always woke me up if the power went off. Can I ask why you were scared of the dark?"
"It's not a good story to tell."
"Please, I want to hear it. If you didn't tell me, how would I know about you?"
He smiled and said, "You knew that my mom died in an accident, right?"
"Don't say it's an accident. It was a pre-planned murder."
"Okay. After she passed away, Olivia brought me up with hatred while father was showing total ignorance towards me. It was during middle school, I scored high marks and Olivia didn't like it. So she put me up in a room, which was in the attic with no window or a light. Wherever you turn, you can only see the dark around you. No objects, no shadows, nothing. It was like you're trapped in a Balck box."
"Didn't your father know about this?"
"He knew but all he did was ignore me. He was the best at it. I thought I'd get used to the black room but as days passed, I got scared of it more and more. Even though Olivia put me in the dark room, I continued to score high marks since I believed it was the only thing that's going to save me from hell."
I leaned on him and said, "We both didn't have proper fathers but I'm so happy that we had great mother's beside us."
"Yeah."
"Just imagine that yours and my mother are friends and we met each other in our childhood days. We would have fun by playing with each other. Even while imagining, I feel happy. I wish I would have seen you before you became an introvert."
"I'm not an introvert anymore. Thank you. And, If we met earlier like you said, I think we would have had good memories together with our mothers."
"Argh! Why didn't our mothers become friends?"
"I think they're friends now." And gave a kiss on my forehead.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Do you know something? My mother liked you even before we met."
"How?"
"Your picture was on a magazine's cover one day. She praised you for how handsome you look and how you're so powerful, intelligent at that age to be known by everyone. But she got mad at you after knowing about the contract."
"Did she?"
"Yes. I wish you two could have met before she passed away."
After a while, We arrived at the house. When I tried to open the car door, he stopped me and asked, "Bella, do you know how I found you when you ran away from me?"
"Using all your sources."
"No, your mother contacted me."
"What!? But she passed away when you found me."
"No, that wasn't the first time I saw you. After you left, i searched for.you everywhere using my sources but it failed. I didn't give up and continued searching on my own. After a year, someone called through an unknown number. When I answered, it was your mom. She told me the place and asked me to come with her.
I'm excited that I'm going to see you. The address she gave me belonged to a hospital. I was nervous when I entered the hospital. You mom directed me to a room. When I opened it, she was lying there with no hair on her head, wrinkles all over her face and skin, lean body in a loose outfit, having so many injection points in her hand, and looked at me with a happy face.
I sat beside her and took her hand and apologised for what I did to her daughter, and for being the reason to run away from their home. Did you know what she said to me even when she couldn't even talk properly? She gave me an address and said that you're living there and asked me to look after you when she's gone. I said I'll take care of the surgery but she didn't let me do it. All she did was ask me to take care of her only daughter. She believed me that I would. After a day, I came to the hospital with money for the surgery but you were there crying in pain. I came to know that she passed away in the morning. I think she knew it. That's why she called me before that day and asked me to take care of you. I couldn't bear seeing you crying like that so I left. I tried to talk with you but I couldn't since you didn't come out of your mother's death. I don't want to burden you more so I stayed away and watched you from a distance. Soon, I came to know that Olivia's the one who's behind this so I let go of waiting and came to the diner to take you back with me."
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
"Because your mother asked me not to tell you about this but I couldn't resist seeing you in pain."
"Do you think of yourself as someone who can hold secrets? No! You can't!"
I got out of the car and walked to the house.
"Bella!... Bella!"
I clenched his collar and pulled him towards me and said, "Kiss me."
"What?"
I pulled him and pressed my lips against his and started kissing him. I wrapped my hands around his waist and continued kissing him. He hugged and kissed me back. We pulled apart for some air and stared into each other's eyes, smiling at each other in a way that only lovers can do and our lips were still a bit swollen from the kissing and we both laughed.
"Wow," he said and smiled, "You kiss better than me."
I couldn't stop smiling and kissed his cheek again, pulling him close to me. He leaned into me more and I put my arms around his shoulders. My head fell back onto his chest as I listened to his heartbeat, a rhythm that seemed so slow compared to my own heart that raced in excitement for his presence.
He said, "Let's get inside."
I nodded and walked into the house along with him.